It can be really tough to encourage kids to read sometimes. There are just too many temptations from modern technology; but we have a bit of help you you today from The Booktrust – a reading list for 4 year olds (and 5 year olds too)!. Video games, fun electronic applications and the television are often perceived as more attractive for our children. Many young children are better at handling electronics than adults! This is all the more reason to engage children in reading from an early age.
It is really important to encourage children to read from an early age. So we have a few ideas for you from 4-5 year olds, to really help get them excited about books.
Reasons to engage children in reading from an early age
Why should we bother though – what makes reading so important for kids?
- Early reading engagement will help children to be able to understand words and the world around them so, so much better. Children will be able to use their imagination and to develop their speech. At the same time, they will enjoy the time with you as you sit and read to them,
- Reading is not just having a quiet time in a cosy place, but it will help your young learners to grow their social skills, develop spelling, listening, writing, and literacy too,
- The more younger children experience books, the more they will get a passion and interest for the activity. If you start reading with them early, it will trigger their inquiry and love of learning,
- Having engaging reading experiences will be a great foundation to encourage a reading interest throughout school and future life. It is much easier to start earlier rather than when children get older..
- In the first 5 years of their life, children develop faster intellectually than other stages of life. In the golden ages, reading can boost their growth and achievement in academic areas.
Reading list for 4-year olds
BookTrust is the UK’s largest children’s reading charity. As we can see in the logo, it has a mission to inspire a love of reading. It encourages reading for disadvantaged kids by publishing some great books distributed across The United Kingdom. For that purpose, BookTrust also publishes a catalogue organised based on the children’s ages from 0 to 12+ years old; BookTrust’s Great Book Guide 2017.
There are 60 books in the Guide Book that we think are great – and so will your children. There are a various range of books to engage and excite children, all the way up to age 11. Using the guide, you can choose suitable books for your children.
Today, we would like to share a reading list from the guide for 4-5 year olds taken from the guide.
Click the image below to download the list. You can get the other stages of reading in the complete BookTrust’s Great Book Guide 2017
If you like this post, you might like some of our other posts relevant to the topic:
- How to encourage reading and writing in four and five year olds,
- 15+ books about starting school and why regular reading helps them settle in,
- Free book day reading posters, and our
- Alphabet flash cards.
We do have a lot of resources on the site, so why not also nip over to our Pinterest board as well to give us a follow!
Happy reading with the kids.
Helen
Helen
Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine! Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time. KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10. It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania. Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on. Get in touch TODAY!